Hundreds of Shelby County Schools teachers' jobs in limbo

213 on 'excess list' have jobs; 600 more dreading June 30

With budget cuts, school-closings, and Shelby County Schools' projected enrollment down, about 850 teachers have been notified the jobs they have will not be available next year. Tenured teachers who have not secured other positions in the district by June 30 will be on the district’s “preferred-hire” list but will no longer be employees.

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About 850 teachers in Shelby County Schools had gotten word by noon Tuesday that the jobs they have will not be available next year, due to declining enrollment and budget cuts primarily, but also because the district is closing 10 schools and losing others to the Achievement School District.

Tenured teachers who have not secured other positions in the district by June 30 will be on the district's "preferred-hire" list but will no longer be employees. If they reject four comparable offers, they are off the list.

"We think we have identified all of the employees," said Sheila Reddick, SCS director of human capital. "Of the 850 (teachers), 213 have already been hired in new positions."

SCS's projected enrollment is 117,000, down from 140,000 in the current merged district, but up from the 105,000 in legacy Memphis City Schools.

Reddick expects few teachers will be left without a job when school starts, but she is making no promises. Who ends up getting hired will depends on what subjects principals need to fill and what license the candidate holds. There is no shortage of need for math and science teachers, but with the district closing six elementary schools, there could be a glut of primary teachers.

The shuffle in schools happens every spring as principals draw up staffing numbers to match projected enrollment. While the teachers have not been laid off, it is their responsibility as "excessed" staff to work through system the district has set up to match teachers to openings in other schools.

It held two job fairs last week for internal candidates. It has also offered resume-writing and interviewing workshops for teachers, helpful Reddick said, for teachers who didn't expect to be back in the job market.

This is the first time that people in the district still looking for placements after June 30 will be off the payroll. The Memphis-Shelby County Education Association expects some 200 tenured teachers could be affected, and it's preparing to go to bat.

"We have filed lawsuit against the district, based on tenure. These people were told they will not have a job after June 30 if they do not have a placement," said Keith Williams, association president.

"They have a right to a job," Williams said. "They have done nothing wrong. They can only be dismissed for cause, and there is no cause."

Traditionally, these decisions were based on seniority and tenure. That doesn't happen anymore as the district moves to keep its strongest performers, whether veterans or first-year teachers.

Excessing is not permission for principals to clean house and get rid of their low performers or people they don't like.

"This is financially driven. Period," Reddick said. "When principals get next year's enrollment, they have to say, ‘How can I make my building run? I have two units of Spanish, and I think I can operate with one unit. That's when performance comes in. First one to excess used to be the last person in. That person could be a Level 5 teacher, and we don't want to lose that person."

This year, Reddick says there will be fewer cases of principals being forced to accept transfers as the district relies increasingly on mutual consent.

"A law goes into effect July 1 that says principals no longer have to accept direct placements," she said. "When we looked at that group this year, their performance was a whole point lower.

"We knew nationally that was the case. After three years of TEM (the local teacher evaluation model), we could go back and look, and so we did," she said.

SCS now has an arsenal of reports showing how much each teacher contributes to student growth. The average teacher adds a year to students' knowledge. The best add two or three years' growth. For a district with nearly 120 schools performing in the bottom 10 percent in the state, there is a premium on hiring teachers who have proved results in changing the trajectory.